For over twenty years, Hollywood has tried and failed to make a great Resident Evil movie. Zach Cregger might have finally figured it out by mostly setting aside the familiar characters, monsters, and stories. Instead, his version focuses on something even more important: capturing what it really feels like to play a Resident Evil game.
Resident Evil tells the story of Bryan (Austin Abrams), an ordinary medical courier whose trip through Raccoon City quickly turns into a nightmare. There’s no Leon S. Kennedy, Jill Valentine, Chris Redfield, or Claire Redfield here. Bryan isn’t a trained police officer or a hero who can fight off monsters. He’s just a regular guy trying to survive, and he often struggles. Abrams plays him as someone who reacts to scary situations the way most people would. When something looks like a trap, sometimes the best move is just to walk away. Even when he gets a gun, it doesn’t suddenly make him good at using it.
Bryan’s vulnerability brings both humor and horror to Resident Evil. That tension helps explain why Cregger’s approach works. In Barbarian and Weapons, Cregger showed he knows how to play with what the audience can and can’t see, and he does that here too. Darkness hides figures in the background and foreground, and the movie quickly makes you feel like something could be hiding anywhere. I found myself scanning the screen even during quiet moments. Just when you start to relax, Cregger surprises you with a well-timed jump scare. This is the kind of horror movie that’s even better with a crowd, where everyone laughs one minute and jumps the next.
Resident Evil fans will notice how well Cregger understands the games. Without giving away any spoilers, you shouldn’t expect to see a bunch of familiar enemies. The dangers Bryan faces aren’t just taken from Capcom’s list of monsters, but the movie is full of references to the games. There are green herbs, typewriters, and first-person camera shots that remind you of Resident Evil 7 biohazard and Resident Evil Village.
Even more importantly, Cregger brings the games’ mechanics into the story. Bryan slowly finds better gear, and things like ammo and scavenging really matter. He moves through different parts of Raccoon City, just trying to stay alive. All the while, something dangerous keeps chasing him, which will remind longtime fans of the pressure from Mr. X and Nemesis. Instead of feeling like an adaptation of a specific Resident Evil game, it feels more like watching someone play a new one.
Resident Evil finally gets the movie it deserves as Zach Cregger delivers a scary, funny, fast-paced survival horror thrill ride.
Cregger also smartly avoids weighing the movie down with too much explanation. The story is simple: one man needs to survive the night and reach his destination. Details about Raccoon City and what’s happening around Bryan come out naturally, instead of pausing for a big backstory. This makes it one of the easiest Resident Evil movies to recommend to people who haven’t played the games. The quick 90-minute runtime helps, too. The movie moves fast and rarely slows down, with Abrams carrying most of it. Zach Cherry, Kali Reis, Paul Walter Hauser, and the rest of the cast are fun when they show up, but this is really Bryan’s story.
My biggest complaint is that Cregger sometimes seems almost afraid to make the movie look too much like Resident Evil. That reluctance undercuts the same game-like feeling the movie otherwise nails. The monsters feel more like creations from his own imagination than creatures from Capcom’s world. Not to mention, familiar images from the franchise are used sparingly. As a fan, I sometimes wished he would lean more into the classic Resident Evil style he’s clearly avoiding. It’s like watching someone purposely get every answer wrong on a test, just to show they can do something new.
I get why he made these choices. Cregger isn’t trying to remake Resident Evil 2 or fill the movie with Leon, Jill, Wesker, and a bunch of familiar monsters just for fan service. He wants this story to take place in a different part of the same universe, and that’s what makes it work. This version doesn’t focus on which scenes fans want to see on screen. Instead, it asks what it would really feel like to be an ordinary person stuck in that world.
Overall, Resident Evil is scary, often funny, fast-paced, and a real thrill to watch with a crowd. Most importantly, it finally makes a live-action Resident Evil movie feel like the games. For the first time in a live-action Resident Evil movie, I wasn’t just spotting references to the games I love. I actually felt like I was watching someone try to survive one.
Rating: 4/5 atoms
Resident Evil hits theaters on September 18th.
